McGregor vs Holloway 2: Why question marks hang over Conor McGregor’s UFC 329 return
McGregor hasn’t fought since breaking his leg in a loss to Dustin Poirier in 2021, but he’s been making headlines ever since.
Nikita Hand, who accused McGregor of raping her in November 2024, won the compensation case she filed against him for assault by rape in a civil case.
The jury found McGregor sexually assaulted Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018 and was awarded £206,000 plus damages.
McGregor lost his civil jury appeal in July 2025, and Hand announced the following month his intention to sue him and two others for damages, alleging malicious abuse of court processes.
Despite losing his appeal, McGregor continued to accuse Hand and his lawyers of lying, while Hand said he was “re-traumatized” by the hearing.
Asked this week if he understood why people were uncomfortable with him being in the spotlight following the outcome of the civil case, McGregor said: “I am an innocent man and I will maintain my innocence until the day I get out.
“There’s a reason he’s not going where he’s going and he’s going to the civil trial. He is. It hurts deeply. I keep fighting. I know the truth and I know that lying lips are an abomination to God and I know that everything in the darkness will soon come to light.”
Last year, McGregor also accepted an 18-month ban for violating the UFC’s anti-doping policy after missing three drug tests in a 12-month period in 2024.
The ban, which dates back to the third missed test in September 2024, ended in March.
McGregor happened Tested 14 times, external More than any other fighter on the UFC’s roster this year by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD).
In 2019 he was found guilty and fined €1,000 (£850) for punching a man who rejected his offer of a drink in a Dublin bar.
Some commentators suggest that support for McGregor has waned in Ireland, where he was considered a pioneer during his rise to fame.
Last March, Irish political leaders stated that McGregor “does not speak on behalf of Ireland” after he criticized the country’s immigration policy, and ended his presidential candidacy in September.
“I’m not here to win anyone back, I’m here to represent my country. What happened in Ireland is the saddest story in the West,” McGregor said at a press conference this week.
